Carol Ann Duffy's poem about Stephen Lawrence is clearly something we would want of our laureate. But that raises the issue of what we actually expect of Carol Ann Duffy, if indeed we expect anything at all.

In the cultural pecking order, film and poetry sit at opposite ends of the spectrum. Film is probably the world's most popular art form, drawing the biggest audiences. Poetry, on the other hand, almost certainly draws the smallest. So what kind of fusion happens when you put them together?